1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the latching art and more specifically to an improved latching arrangement providing both a resiliently biased pivotal latching and a manually operatable swivel cam lock for selectively latching a first member to a second member to prevent relative movement between in the latched and locking condition thereof as well as a latched and unlocked condition, and allowing relative movement in an unlatched position and unlocked condition.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In many applications it is desirable to provide a selective securing means for selectively locking one member to another member to prevent relative movement therebetween and unlocking the first member from the second member to allow deired relative movement there between. One such application is in sliding windows. Such sliding windows are generally provided with a fixed window and a moveable window adjacent thereto. The moveable window slides in first directions relative to the fixed window to provide an open window condition and a closed window condition. When the window is closed it is often desired to lock the moveable window to the fixed window in order to prevent intruders from opening the window and entering the premises in which the window is provided.
One latching arrangement heretofor utilized in such sliding windows has been a pivotal latch generally mounted on the moveable window and resiliently biased towards the fixed window. A lip means on the latch is positioned to engage a shoulder on the fixed window to provide a latching between the fixed and moveable windows. In such prior art embodiments, in general, there is a small, limited amount of relative movement of the sliding window with respect to the fixed window since clearance between the lip on the latch and the shoulder on the fixed window must be provided to allow the latch to pivot away from the fixed window so that the lip clears the shoulder to allow the relative movement of the moveable window with respect to the fixed movement window. Such spring loaded latch means has provided a very convenient and comparatively inexpensive arrangement for automatically latching a first member to a second member such as the above described sliding windows to prevent relative movement therebetween in the latched condition.
However, in other applications in the prior art, for example sliding windows, there has been provided a more positive locking arrangement in which there is included a mannually operable swivel cam. The swivel cam in such prior art applications is generally mounted in a fixed position on the moveable window and the swivel cam swivels manually into a locking condition in which it is positioned in a channel provided in the fixed window when the swivel cam is in the locking condition. The swivel cam is rotatable from the locking condition to an unlocked condition in which the swivel cam is rotated so that it is moved out of the channel in the fixed member and thus allows the relative movement of the moveable window with respect to the fixed window in the unlocked condition. Such swivel cam locking arrangements in sliding windows generally provide a more secure lock than the above described pivotal latching arrangement. However, since the cam lock required manual operation, if it were to be left unlocked, there would be no locking whatsoever of the window. Additionally, the prior art cam locks were fixed and not moveable in second directions perpendicular to the first direction thereby limiting adjustability for locking.
However, it has been found that often it is preferred to provide in a single latch arrangement both the convenience of a pivoting latch and the security of a swivel cam lock. However, there has not heretofor been provided in, for example, sliding windows a structural arrangement that is economical to fabricate and yet provides both the convenience of the pivot latch and the security of a swivel cam lock in a single structural unit.